tt ae eee . Treat - Me et | This page is s supported by: | in n recognition of Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week TRY Test - Answers from pg.3 This questionnaire deals primarily with alcohol use because alcohol is the drug of choice for most people. However, the questions and personal evaluation can also be used to detect possible problems with other drugs, including “‘street”’ drags such as marijuana and cocaine, or prescription drugs. Because no two people are alike, ‘‘safe’* levels of drinking habits differ from person to person. This test is intended to provide you with a checklist of warning signs. Other impor- tant risk factors include: whether either natural parent had drinking or. drug problems; whether you began drinking regularly before the age of 18; and whether you use ‘‘street”’ drugs on a regular basis or mix drugs and alcohol. This questionnaire is not intended as a substitute for a thorough medical examination and discussion with your doc- tor. With this in mind, the TRY TEST personal evaluation should be scored as follows: A ‘*YES”’ answer to any ONE question should be taken asa signal that the person is potentially at risk; A ‘*YES” answer to any TWO questions should be taken as a definite warning sign; A ‘‘YES”’ answer to THREE OR MORE questions clearly in- dicates that professional consultation and evaluation are ad- vised. Where do I go for help? Hummingbird Counselling Susan Higgins, Counsellor.........essceserssen 635-8545 Kermode Friendship Society Benita Chapdelaine, Alcohol and Drug Counsellor. 635-4906 Northwest Counselling Centre........... gesateseenen 638-8311 Northwest Drug and Alcohol Services............0 638-8117 Skeena Mental Hea!th Centre, Skeena Health Unit.... 638-3325 Alcoholics Anonymous, 24-hour number... 635-6533 HELPLINE for Children...... Dial ’0’ and ask for ZENITH 1234 ~- The TRY Lite.......cscsccssssecsscersees 1-800-663-1441 You may also find help through a friend, your church, a teacher, school counsellor, or school organizations like Peer Counselling or CounterAttack clubs Heartfelt thanks The Terrace Review newspaper would like to extend sincere thanks to the sponsors of this brochure in recognition of Drug Awareness Week: Tod Strachan, Terrace Review staff reporter, 9 who took this on as a personal project and the Drug Awareness Week committee who brought it all to fruition. In past years, community organizations have participated individually in Drug Awareness Week activities. This year, they & formed a team and worked together for a more comprehensive and J far-reaching message about drug awareness. _ : The committee is made up of City of Terrace, Parks and Recreation Director, Steve Scott; Corrections, Alcohol and Drug Counselling representative, Sue Higgins; the Happy Gang Centre’s Gerdi Grundman;.ICBC manager, Mark; Mills Memorial Hospital P.R.N. Brian Kennedy; Northwest Drug & Alcohol Counsellor, Eve Kusnick; RCMP Crime Prevention/Victim Services coordinator | Ken Harkness; Skeena Health Unit Medical Health Officer, Dr. | David Bowering; Terrace and District Community Service’s Angela Young, The Terrace Review’s Todd Strachan; and headed | by Kermode Friendship Society's Drug & Alcohol Counsellor, Benita Chapdelaine. . On November 16th, the committee will evaluate Drug Awareness Week 1990 and make recommendations for next year’s.campaign. Any persons interested in joining the commitice are ¢ apked to call Benita at the Kermode Friendship Centre. : | T This page is supported by: in recognition of Drug & Alcohol Awareness Weck Wilkinson Business Machines Canon | Teens confide in other teens trained as peer counsellors. The training process is seen as a Contributed by Caro! Harvie The Peer Counselling pro- gram has been running at Skeena Junior Secondary School since 1987. It is co-ordinated by school counsellor Mary Papais. The concept is that teens would rather confide in other teens and, in fact, do. The Peer Coun- selling program acknowledges that certain teens are sought out by others to confide in. These _ students are identified by their peers and are interviewed by Steroid use in Terrace isn’t an established fact. There is enough evidence, though, to warrant some concern. This isn’t to say parents should become alarmed...only aware. Aware of the fact that anyone using steroids is _ endangering, their health and in most cases pro- bably involved in the use of an illegal drug. It-has been estimated by some > sources that about one-half of ‘those using steroids in town are Most of these teens. teenagers. are probably involved in either weightlifting or body building but most probably aren’t in- terested in the competition at all... They just want to look good at the beach. The temptation is great. Ster- oid use by some of our more famous body builders and athletes is now a known fact and there are a few young men who would do almost anything to parade the beach as an image of their greatest hero. Many of these so-called heros, though, are in the game to win and would do anything for a ‘‘aold’’... even die. In his book, Death in the Locker Room, Dr. Rob Goldman notes a survey where 100 top athletes who had never won a medal were asked this question: If you had a drug that would gaurantee you a med- al, but would kill you in five years, would you take it? Seventy-three percent. answered yes. Goldman’s book deals with the use and consequences of steroids and cocaine in sports. According to Goldman, teen - steroid use should be obvious to parents. The most obvious dan- ; This page is s supported by: City of Terrace™* ‘fine-tuning’ of the natural helping talents these young peo- ple already possess. The training is conducted usually on two week-ends and then on-going meetings are held once a week. There are currently 25 peer counsellors and a_ training weekend was held Saturday, November 3rd. A common con- cern of parents is that teenagers will not be able to deal with such in recognition of Drug & Alcohol Avvareness Week Steroid abuse, a local concern ger signal may be a teen who gains 20 to 30 pounds in six weeks — he’s using steroids. Weightlifting professionals say that a normal six-week weight gain for someone on a weightlif- ting program should only be a few pounds, probably less than five. Other signs of steroid use include insomnia, a huge ap- petite and irritability. Some of the dangers in using steroids use include the possibili- ty of kidney and liver diseases, cancer and psychological pro- blems. Psychological problems are most noticeable when a per- son goes off the drug and finds he is unable to perform as he did while using it. But there may be an even greater danger in the self- injection of an unknown substance. AIDS and hepatitis are just two of the killers this habit invites and steroid users have no way of knowing where the product they are using came from. And shared needles are an obvious hazard but you don’t have to share a needie to con- issues as suicide and abuse. But, in fact, teens do deal with these issues daily amongst themselves and the peer counselling pro- gram helps equip students with skills to enable them to deal more effectively. It also offers them supervision and direction. The program has been very successful over the past 3 years and every year there are over 40 applications for 10 - 15 spots. It is heartwarming to know that our young people do care and are willing to work to help each . other. He City of B7ERRACES tract AIDS or hepatitis, A shared vial can be just ‘as. dangerous. These and many other perti- nent facts can be found in Goldman’s book and it may be good advice for concerned parents or teens to look for a _ copy. According to Randy Harvey of the Los Angeles Times, ‘‘No parent with a child in sports can afford not to read this book.’’ And Joe Henderson of Runners World says, ‘‘Gold- man’s research is meticulous; his conclusions inescapable.’? — Goldman is a_ world-class, record holding athlete, a leading expert on androgenic steroid chemistry and its effects, chair- man of the Amateur Athletic Union Sports Medicine commit- tee, and chairman of Athletes Against Drug Abuse. Goldman’s book may be the only authoritative manual available on this topic. You can find a copy at the Terrace Public Library or it can be ordered through local book stores. Terrace & Dist. Credit Union we, nor A Tk oA ah See wl: